Discussion of ‘Magnificent Delusions’ at the World Affairs Council

Some call the 65 year-old relationship between Pakistan and the US a strategic alliance. For Pakistan, the US has been a source of much needed aid and military supply. For the US, Pakistan has been a stabilizing force in a largely unstable region. Today, Pakistan is seen in the US as a hotbed of terrorist activity and the US is seen in Pakistan as a constant source of humiliation. Former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, blames these deteriorating views on a relationship between these two countries that has always been based on mutual incomprehension and the belief that one can play the other. Drawing on his experience with his homeland and his time in the US as an ambassador and a professor, Haqqani will lay out his views on the US-Pakistani relationship and why the two just can’t seem to understand each other.